Author: Defenceline Webdesk

WASHINGTON — Artificial intelligence and autonomous robots could hold the key to improving the lethality and performance of close combat units. Front-line infantry personnel have long suffered casualties in higher proportion to other positions, with those soldiers comprising 90% of U.S. military combat deaths since World War II.During the Trump administration, Defense Secretary Jim Mattis created the Pentagon’s Close Combat Lethality Task Force to examine capability shortfalls and address what the department head saw as decades-long gaps in the equipping and training of close-combat units.While leadership of the task force now falls to the Army rather than the defense secretary,…

President Trump on Friday directed all federal agencies—including the Defense Department—to “immediately cease all use” of frontier AI firm Anthropic’s technology, though he also said there would be a six-month “phase out period.”Trump’s announcement followed a tense back-and-forth between Anthropic and the Pentagon, which widely uses the San Francisco company’s popular AI platform, Claude, in classified and unclassified networks but took issue with the company’s refusal to give the Pentagon unrestricted access to its models.In a Thursday statement ahead of the Pentagon’s Friday deadline, Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei said he would not allow Claude to be used for mass surveillance…

Raytheon’s KuRFS radar provides detection of rocket, artillery, mortar and UAS threats. Credit: Raytheon Company/PRNewswire. The US Department of State has approved a potential Foreign Military Sale (FMS) to Jordan involving Ku band multi-function radio frequency system (KuMRFS) radars, along with related equipment and services, at an estimated value of $280m. Jordan seeks to procure KuMRFS radars and a command-and-control system, as well as generators, GPS receivers, spare and repair parts, special tools and test equipment, technical manuals and publications, training devices, and new equipment training. Discover B2B Marketing That Performs Combine business intelligence and editorial excellence to reach engaged…

The Indian Army has conducted a pivotal three-day joint artillery field firing exercise in Tezu, Lohit district of Arunachal Pradesh, from 23 to 25 February 2026.This exercise involved seamless collaboration with the Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP), Arunachal Scouts, Para Special Forces, and the newly raised Bhairav Battalion.A defence spokesperson, Lieutenant Colonel Mahendra Rawat, highlighted that the drill significantly bolstered inter-agency coordination and operational readiness in high-altitude terrain. Arunachal Pradesh’s rugged, strategically sensitive mountainous regions demand such specialised training, given their proximity to the Line of Actual Control (LAC) with China.The exercise focused on strengthening synergy among diverse forces while enhancing…

Joe Dodd, RCDefense If Golden Dome can be delivered near the budget numbers cited above, it is not only affordable—it may be one of the most strategically beneficial investments the United… Source link

WASHINGTON ― Boeing and Nammo have jointly test-fired a Ramjet 155 weapon, amid the U.S. Army’s efforts to modernize its long-range precision fire capability.During the June 28 test at the Andøya Test Center in Norway, the Ramjet 155 was fired from an L39 cannon and its engine successfully ignited, according to a statement from Boeing, an American firm partnered with the Norwegian company to develop and produce boosted artillery projectiles. The engine draws in air to bolster the forward motion of the projectile.The companies aim to design their artillery round for use by L39 and L58 cannons, the statement read.The…

Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI), in cooperation with ThyssenKrupp Marine Systems’ (TKMS) subsidiary Atlas Elektronik, delivered the first BlueWhale autonomous underwater vehicle (AUV) to the German Navy on 25 February 2026 at the Eckernförde naval base near Kiel.The handover – which was attended by German Defence Ministry State Secretary Jens Plötner and Vice Admiral Jan Christian Kaack, the Inspector of the German Navy – marks the first international sale of the Israeli-developed large unmanned underwater vehicle (LUUV). The deal is valued at tens of millions of euros.Developed by IAI’s ELTA division, the BlueWhale is a 5.5-ton, 10.9-metre-long fully autonomous underwater vehicle…

Switchblade 600 Block 2 advances long-range loitering strike. Credit: AeroVironment, Inc./Business Wire. AeroVironment has secured a $186m delivery order from the US Army for its Switchblade 600 Block 2 and Switchblade 300 Block 20 explosively formed penetrator (EFP) loitering munition systems. The order comes under the Army’s five-year Indefinite Delivery, Indefinite Quantity (IDIQ) contract for Lethal Unmanned Systems (LUS). Discover B2B Marketing That Performs Combine business intelligence and editorial excellence to reach engaged professionals across 36 leading media platforms. Find out more Awarded in August 2024, the IDIQ contract has a maximum value of $990m. This marks the Army’s initial…

The Rafale source-code controversy has sparked debate in defence circles, yet it remains a peripheral matter rather than a deal-breaker in India’s procurement of these advanced French fighter jets.Dassault Aviation’s reluctance to share the proprietary source code—essential for integrating indigenous weapons like the Astra missile—stems from legitimate concerns over intellectual property and national security.This stance reflects standard practice among leading arms exporters, prioritising protection of decades-old software that powers the jet’s AESA radar and mission computer.India’s original 2016 deal for 36 Rafale jets proceeded without full code access, delivering operational success despite limited technology transfer. The Indian Air Force has…

Steve Trimble, Aviation Week Regiment-size units, which seldom possess more than a handful of small UAS at any time, are racing to prepare for the logistical and operational realities of… Source link